WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — Analogic Corp., a Massachusetts-based medical device manufacturer, and its wholly owned Danish subsidiary will pay close to $15 million to settle allegations of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced.
According to the SEC, the company’s Danish subsidiary, BK Medical ApS, conducted sham transactions with distributors that allowed it to funnel $20 million to third parties. These third parties purportedly included individuals in Russia and apparent shell companies in Belize, the British Virgin Islands, Cyprus and Seychelles.
“Analogic’s subsidiary, BK Medical, allowed itself to be used as a slush fund for its distributors, funneling millions of dollars around the world at its distributors’ direction without knowing the purpose of the payments or anything about the recipients,” said Kara Brockmeyer, chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s FCPA unit. “Issuers and their subsidiaries cannot turn a blind eye to suspicious payments, even if they believe they are simply ‘helping out’ a business partner.”
Analogic agreed to a $7.67 million disgorgement, as well as $3.8 million in prejudgment interest. BK Medical agreed to pay $3.4 million, the Department of Justice announced.